


stand down

by sepiaglass



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: And so does someone... who I'll leave unnamed..., Canon Compliant, Character Study, Gen, I actually wrote this as a prelude, I'll write the thing I wanted to write about originally later, Natsume and co do appear in spirit, but it might not be?, but it turned into a whole thing on its own, mostly canon compliant--I added in a manager who doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-18
Updated: 2016-11-18
Packaged: 2018-08-31 16:44:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8586076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sepiaglass/pseuds/sepiaglass
Summary: Natori finishes a particularly taxing assignment.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I hesitate to call this a character study since I haven't delved into a LOT of things I wanted to explore and talk about yet, but I'll get to it eventually. Like his family relationship kills me every time and I seriously need to write about it because tbh I kind of understand where he's coming from (he's got it sooo bad though, it hurts). And his decision to go into acting of all things--and why he's starring in movies, and how people don't recognize his face but are charmed by his presence... okay, I said I would write about it, not rant about it.

Dirt clings to Shuuichi’s face, unwilling to separate from him as he pulls himself off the ground. He huffs out a dry laugh.

Even the dirt is hopelessly attracted to him.

Apparently, the crowd-pleaser in him is still able to crack jokes. He imagines he might have said it out loud if Natsume been with him—but considering how this case had turned out, he’s entirely glad Natsume wasn’t.

The world has yet to come into focus, so he crawls a short distance away from the site of the exorcism and collapses against a tree. _What a way to start the day_ , he thinks. Sleep-deprived, hungry, and now muddied and nauseous—he manages a glance at his watch, immensely relieved that its surface has been spared, if only so he wouldn’t need to clean it. It takes him much too long to process the meaning of what he’s looking at.

6:13 AM.

 _Safe._ Feeling absolutely horrible, but safe.

Eyes slipping closed, he sighs and leans back. The tree shows its love by meeting his head with a particularly well placed ridge. He’s too spent to care. _Five minutes._ He takes a deep breath, relishing the calm that rushes through him. _Just five minutes._

Birds, rousing from their sleep, or perhaps sensing that the danger had passed, begin to ring out their morning greetings. Somewhere low to the ground at his right, small voices approach and then rustle away, murmuring in alarm. Good. He wasn’t in the mood to overhear any gossip.

Cleaning up the area wouldn’t be that hard. Not many paper shreds to collect, this time. No jar either, so reporting in would be especially quick. He’d shower, maybe eat something? Ah, but if it meant he could soak a bit, he’d gladly skip a proper meal. Should he call his manager in case he missed the train? Murata-san would be livid, but he’d calm down by the time they met face to face...

He shivers, suddenly aware that his clothes, damp with sweat, are working against him.

The ache that has settled into his body is sharp with cold and even sharper with movement, but he forces his eyes open and sways to his feet. A quick scan of the area makes clear that he hasn’t been as on guard as he’d like to think. There’s barely any light filtering down from the rising sun yet, but he’s fairly certain that someone has swept the clearing of the remains of his tools.

His shiki manifest in front of him.

He smiles and opens his mouth to thank them, but Hiiragi speaks first. “I hope that our decision to help you clean up doesn’t violate your order for us to _not interfere_ , Master.” The dull sarcasm in her voice is bruising.

Urihime and Sasago seem similarly displeased. Urihime drones out, “We didn’t contract with you because we wanted to watch you die an untimely and gruesome death, Master.”

Shuuichi sighs as irritation swallows his gratitude. He pastes a smile on his face, but doesn’t quite manage to look genuine. (He knows they can tell.) “Thank you for your assistance and concern. I won’t be so rash and issue such an order next time.” Noting that Sasago’s hands are trembling, he feels a flash of guilt and drops the smile. He understands her pain. After all, years ago and to this day, he too… but he discards the thought. “I’m sorry. This was… a special case. I wanted to do it alone. But I shouldn’t have tied your hands and forced you to watch.” _I should have trusted you to trust in me._ A small voice adds, _even though no one ever has._

He walks past them and corrects his somewhat pitiful thought. Recently, he did have Natsume and his friends. They are wary, and rightfully so, but the trust in their eyes shines stronger with every meeting. To think that, in order to nurture it, all he has to do is not banish yokai or see them as tools... It’s a bit simplistic, but he likes it, and hopes that they will never stray near, let alone walk, the path he has taken.

He stoops to collect his glasses from where they had fallen and gently brushes away the dirt. When he brings it closer, he realizes he’ll need have the lenses replaced. A shame—they have held up well these past six years.

He pockets them and begins making his way out of the forest. His shiki take the hint, however miffed they might be later, and vanish.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd like to add that the "no one ever trusted in him (his ability, yada yada)" thing is about the people he cares about. Like his family. Maybe his past friend(s) who knew about his sight. But mostly his family.
> 
> And, because I love paperwork, I think that they probably have paperwork to fill out after every assignment (especially for the ones that involve sealed malicious yokai) but I don't think I was able to draw that out from Natori here. I have doubts that the modern exorcist community doesn't have some kind of... documentation system, if not a council or association of sorts.


End file.
